The Highlands of Ethiopia Part 46

but during the journey or the foray, a cloak, composed of the prepared skin of the lion, the leopard, or the ocelot, is thrown over the shoulder of the better cla.s.ses. Neither shoes nor sandals are ever employed. The despot and the wandering mendicant are alike bare-footed, and, unless by the clergy or the inmate of the monastery, no covering is worn over the head. A wooden skewer, displaying either a feather or a sprig of wild asparagus, is stuck in the hair of two-thirds of the nation, and the arm of every man of any note is enc.u.mbered either with an infinity of copper rings forming a gauntlet, with ponderous ivory armlets, or with a ma.s.s of silver which might serve as a shackle to a wild colt.

In the absence of a razor, the men scrupulously denude their cheeks and chin with a pair of very indifferent scissors--a mode of proceeding which serves greatly to enhance the dirty appearance of their unwashed faces. Water, not less than coffee and tobacco, being studiously avoided, as savouring too strongly of abhorred Islamism, the Christian contents himself with rubbing his eyes in the morning with the dry corner of his discoloured robe; but the greatest attention is paid to the management of the hair with which nature has so liberally supplied him, and many hours are daily expended in arranging the mop into various and quaint devices. At one time-worn hanging in long cl.u.s.tering ringlets over the cheeks and neck--at another, frizzed into round matted protuberances; to-day fancifully tricked and trimmed into small rows of minute curls like a counsellor's peruke, and to-morrow boldly divided into four large lotus-leaved compartments.

During the period of mourning, which extends to one year, black or yellow garments, or the ordinary apparel steeped in mire, must be worn; and on the demise of a relative or friend, both s.e.xes scarify the cheeks by tearing from below each temple a circular piece of skin about the size of a sixpence; to accomplish which, the nail of the little finger is purposely suffered to grow like an eagle's talon. An ecclesiastical remonstrance to the throne, representing this practice to be in direct violation of the written law, "Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead," long since obtained the promulgation of a royal edict directing its discontinuance; but it is still universally practised, and throughout the kingdom there is scarcely an individual to be seen, whether male or female, who has not at some period of life been thus horribly disfigured.

The _mateb_, a small encircling cord of deep blue silk, chosen in reference to the smiling sky above, is the badge of debased Christianity throughout the land, and those who accidentally appear in public without it are severely censured by their pastors. Like other Eastern nations, the Amhara have no family name. They soon ripen and grow old. Girls become mothers at the early age of twelve, and are decayed before the summer of life has well commenced.

It has been conjectured by Pliny, that the Orientals received their first hints in architecture from the swallow, and that, in imitation of the abode of the feathered instructor, their primeval essays were made in clay. Whence the Abyssinians obtained their ideas on the subject it were difficult to tell, but it is certain that they have made little progress whether in execution or in design. Their houses, constructed as in the earliest days, are still a mere framework of stakes sparingly bedaubed with a rude coating of mud. Here thieves can readily break through and steal; and of such a flimsy nature are the materials employed, that the morning sun often rises a witness to the truth of the scriptural metaphor, "He built his house upon the sand, and it was swept away by the rising flood."

The windows, when any windows there be, are mere perforations in the wall, furnished with clumsy shutters, but unprovided with any transparent substance; and thus, if the ponderous door is closed against the searching fog, or the cutting wintry blast, all possibility of admitting light is precluded; whilst, excepting through the crevices in the plank, and the apertures of the cracked walls, there exists no exit for the smoke of the sunken wood fire, which thus fills the solitary apartment, blackens the low roof, and occasions frequent attacks of ophthalmia. Throughout, the most slovenly appearance pervades the dreary interior. Furniture is limited to a small wicker table, a bullock's hide, and a rickety bedstead abounding in vermin; and whilst the universal objection to the use of water, whether as regards the person or the apparel of the inmates, enhances the gloomy vista of cobweb desolation, dirt and filth choke up the surrounding enclosure.

The absence of drains or sewers compels the population of the towns and villages to live in the miasma of decomposing matter and stagnant water.

The comfort of s.p.a.ce is never consulted--stables and outhouses are far beyond the notions of the proprietor; and in the absence of all tidiness or comfort in the arrangement of the yards, the unseemly dunghill, which in other countries is carried away to improve the soil, is here suffered to acc.u.mulate and rot before the entrance. Poisoning the atmosphere with its baneful exhalations, it is periodically swept away by the descending torrents to feed the rank weeds which fatten in the mire; but no attempt is to be seen at the small trim garden, or neat rustic porch, even in the lone farm-steadings which are scattered throughout the country. All alike present a dreary look of desertion. The poultry, and the mules, and the farm-stock, and the inhabitants, all reside under the same roof. Bare walls and slovenly thatch rise from a straggling wattle stockade, which environs the premises to preserve the inmates from the nocturnal attacks of the prowling hyena, and to impart the fullest idea of confinement and misery. Few trees break the monotony of the scene. No busy hum of glad labour is to be heard--no bustle or noise among the elders--no merry game or amus.e.m.e.nt among the children; and thus to the European visitor the whole appears strange, savage, and unnatural.

With doors allowing free ingress to every injurious current, with roofs admitting the tropical rain, and sunken floors covered with unwholesome damp, it is only surprising that many more of the people of Shoa are not martyrs to disease. It is now nine years since an epidemic called _ougaret_ made its appearance at the capital, and, as might have been antic.i.p.ated, spread with fearful virulence in the foul city. The iron drum of misfortune was heard by the credulous pealing over the land; and although a black bull was led through the streets, followed by the inhabitants carrying stones upon their heads in token of repentance, and the sacrifice of atonement was duly performed, one half of the whole population were speedily swept away. The monarch sought strict seclusion in the remote palace at Machal-wans, where he would see no person until the plague was stayed; and those who survived of his terror-stricken subjects fled for a season from a hill which was declared by the superst.i.tious priesthood to have been blasted by a curse from heaven.

Volume 3, Chapter XIX.

SOCIAL AND MORAL CONDITION.

In Shoa a girl is reckoned according to the value of her property; and the heiress to a house, a field, and a bedstead, is certain to add a husband to her list before many summers have shone over her head.

Marriage is generally concluded by the parties declaring, before witnesses, "upon the life of the king," that they intend to live happily together, and the property of each being produced, is carefully appraised. A mule or an a.s.s, a dollar, a shield, and a sheaf of spears on the one side, are noted against the lady's stock of wheat, cotton, and household gear; and the bargain being struck, the effects become joint for the time, until some domestic difference results in both taking up their own, and departing to seek a new mate.

Matrimony is, however, occasionally solemnised by the church, in a manner somewhat similar to the observance of more civilised lands; the contracting parties swearing to take each other for life, in wealth or in poverty, in sickness or in health, and afterwards ratifying the ceremony by partaking together of the holy sacrament, and by an oath on the despot's life. But this fast binding is not relished by the inhabitants of Shoa, and it is of very rare occurrence. Favourite slaves and concubines are respected as much as wedded wives. No distinction is made betwixt legitimate and illegitimate children; and, to the extent of his means, every subject follows the example set by the monarch, who, it has been seen, entertains upon his establishment, in addition to his lawful spouse, no fewer than five hundred concubines.

The king resides only for a few weeks at either of his many palaces; and whenever he proceeds to another, is accompanied by all his chief officers, courtiers, and domestics. At each new station a new female establishment is invariably entertained. All conjugal affection is lost sight of, and each woman is in turn cast aside in neglect. Few married couples ever live long together without violating their vow; and the dereliction being held of small account, a beating is the only punishment inflicted upon the weaker party. The jewel chast.i.ty is here in no repute; and the utmost extent of reparation to be recovered in a court of justice for the most aggravated case of seduction is but fivepence sterling!

Morality is thus at the very lowest ebb; for there is neither custom nor inducement to be chaste, and beads, more precious than fine gold, bear down every barrier of restraint. Honesty and modesty both yield to the force of temptation, and pride is seldom offended at living in a state of indolent dependence upon others. The soft savage requires but little inducement to follow the bent of her pa.s.sions according to the dictates of unenlightened nature; and neither scruples of conscience nor the rules of the loose society form any obstacle whatever to their entire gratification.

The bulk of the nation is agricultural; but on pain of forfeiting eight pieces of salt, value twenty-pence sterling, every Christian subject of Shoa is compelled, whenever summoned, to follow his immediate governor to the field. A small bribe in cloth or honey will sometimes obtain leave of absence, but the peasant is usually ready and anxious for the foray; presenting as it does the chance of capturing a slave, or a flock of sheep, of obtaining honour in the eyes of the despot, and of gratifying his inherent thirst for heathen blood.

The princ.i.p.al men of the country who may not be entrusted with government, spend their time in basking in the sun, holding idle gossip with their neighbours, lounging about the purlieus of the court, or gambling at _gebeta_ or _shuntridge_, [see Note 1] the management of the house being left to the women, and the direction of the farm to the servants and slaves. Visits are customarily paid early in the morning; and it is reckoned disreputable to enter a stranger's house after the hour of meals, because the etiquette of the country enforcing the presentation of refreshment, the unseasonable call is ascribed to a desire to obtain it.

Whether in the cabinet or in the field, a great man is constantly surrounded by a numerous band of sycophants, and never for a moment suffered to be by himself. The custom of the country enjoins the practice; the cheapness of provisions favours the support of a large retinue; and through the lack of manufactories, the population is able to supply an unlimited number of idlers, who are willing to pick up a livelihood by any means that chance may present. But to the stranger the nuisance is a crying one. No privacy is to be enjoyed, for no retirement is ever permitted. A dozen naked savages are perpetually by one's side, restrained by no very correct ideas of order or decorum.

Each intruder seizes the first object that comes within his reach, and attacks ears, teeth, and nose, with the most reckless indifference to appearance. The confused hum and the half-suppressed chatter are far from affording a.s.sistance during the hours of mental employment; and at the season of meals, or during the presence of ill.u.s.trious visitors, the whole establishment, denuded to the girdle, crowd into the apartment to satisfy their own curiosity, under pretext of doing honour to their lord and master.

On the first introduction of a stranger, an individual is selected from the establishment, and appointed the _baldoraba_, or "introducer." He is designed to ill.u.s.trate the agency of the holy Virgin and of the saints, between the Redeemer and the sinning mortal. To him and to him alone can a visitor look for admittance into the house; and unless he be present, the monarch and the great man are alike invisible. Courtyards may be thronged with attendants, and the doors may seem invitingly accessible, but the _open sesame_ is wanting, and the repulsed party returns to his home disgusted with the insolence received. Time, however, gradually softens down the rigidity of this most inconvenient practice, which is at first so pertinaciously observed. Suspicion of evil design gives way on matured acquaintance; and after a certain probation, there is not much more difficulty experienced in gaining admittance to an Abyssinian hut, than to the lordly halls of the English n.o.bleman.

Respect is paid by prostration to the earth in a manner the most degrading and humiliating--by bowing the face among the very dust--by removing the robe in order to expose the body--and on entering the house, by kissing the nearest inanimate object. Every subject, of whatever rank, when admitted to the royal presence, throws himself flat before the footstool, and three times brings his forehead in contact with the ground. All stand with shoulders bare to the girdle before His Majesty, or any superior; but to equals the corner of the cloth is removed only for a time. Any thing delivered to a domestic must be received with both hands in a cringing att.i.tude; and should a present be made, the nearest object, generally the threshold of the door, is invariably saluted with the lips.

Amongst persons of rank, presents are frequently interchanged, and the utmost display is attempted on their delivery. Whenever anything was offered to us by our Amhara hosts, the articles were subdivided into a multiplicity of minute portions, placed in baskets covered with red cloth, consigned to a long train of bearers, and each component part of the gift exposed in turn to our view. Wild bulls and unruly he-goats, half as large as a donkey, were sometimes forcibly dragged into our sitting apartment, to the imminent danger and frequent pollution of all around. My personal inspection and approval was required to c.o.c.ks and hens, unseemly joints of raw beef, loaves of half-baked dough, pots of rancid b.u.t.ter, sticky jars of honey, or leaky barilles of hydromel, sacks of barley, bundles of forage, and coa.r.s.e overgrown cabbages; and any deviation from this established rule was certain to be visited with the most dire displeasure.

Meals are taken twice during the day--at noon and after sunset. The doors are first scrupulously barred to exclude the evil eye, and a fire is invariably lighted before the Amhara will venture to appease his hunger--a superst.i.tion existing, that without this precaution, devils would enter in the dark, and there would be no blessing on the meat.

Men and women sit down together, and most affectionately pick out from the common dish the choicest bits, which, at arm's length, they thrust into each other's mouth, wiping their fingers on the pancakes which serve as platters, and which are afterwards devoured by the domestics.

The appearance of the large owlish black face bending over the low wicker table, to receive into the gaping jaws the proffered morsel of raw beef, which, from its dimensions, requires considerable strength of finger to be forced into the aperture, is sufficiently ludicrous, and brings to mind a nest of sparrows in the garden hedge expanding their toad-like throats to the whistle of the school-boy. Mastication is accompanied by a loud smacking of the lips--an indispensable sign of good breeding, which is send to be neglected by none but mendicants, "who eat as if they were ashamed of it;" and sneezing, which is frequent during the operation, is accompanied by an invocation to the Holy Trinity, when every by-stander is expected to exclaim, _Maroo_! "G.o.d bless you!"

Raw flesh forms the grand aliment of life. It is not unfrequently seasoned with the gall of the slaughtered animal; but a sovereign contempt is entertained towards all who have recourse to a culinary process. The bull is thrown down at the very door of the eating-house; the head having been turned to the eastward, is, with the crooked sword, nearly severed from the body, under an invocation to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and no sooner is the breath out of the carca.s.s, than the raw and quivering flesh is handed to the banquet. It is not fair to brand a nation with a foul stigma, resting on a solitary fact; but from my own experience I can readily believe all that is related by the great traveller Bruce of the cruelties practised in Northern Abyssinia.

Sour bread, made from teff, barley, and wheat, is eaten with a stimulating pottage of onions, red pepper, and salt. _Dabo_, the most superior description of bread manufactured, is restricted to the wealthier cla.s.ses; but there are numerous other methods employed in the preparation of grain, descending through all the grades of _hebest, anbabero, anabroot, deffo, amasa, debenia, demookta_, and _kitta_; the first four being composed of wheaten flour, and the remainder of teff, gram, juwarree, barley, and peas.

Mead formed the beverage of the northern nations, and was celebrated in song by all their bards. It was the nectar they expected to quaff in heaven from the skulls of their enemies, and upon earth it was liberally patronised. In Shoa the despot alone retains the right of preparing the much-prized luxury, which, under the t.i.tle of _tedj_, is esteemed far too choice for the lip of the plebeian. Unless brewed with the greatest care, it possesses a sweet mawkish flavour, particularly disagreeable to the palate of the foreigner; but its powers of intoxication, which do not appear to be attended with the after-feelings inseparable from the use of other potent liquors, extend an irresistible attraction to the Amhara of rank, who will never, if the means of inebriation be placed within his reach, proceed sober to bed.

The branches of the _gesho_ plant are dried, pulverised, and boiled with water, until a strong bitter decoction is produced, which is poured off and left to cool. Honey and water being added, fermentation takes place on the third day. Chilies and pepper are next thrown in, and the mixture is consigned to an earthen vessel, closely sealed with mud and cow-dung. The strength increases with the age; and the monarch's cellars are well stored with jars filled thirty years ago, which, little inferior in potency to old Cognac, furnish the material for the nightly orgies in the palace.

The _tullah_, or beer of the country, also possesses intoxicating properties, and if swallowed to the requisite extent, produces the consummation desired. Barley or juwarree, having been buried until the grain begins to sprout, is bruised, and added to the bitter decoction of the _gesho_. Fermentation ensues on the fourth day, when the liquor is closed in an earthen vessel, and according to the temperature of the hut, becomes ready for use in ten or fifteen more. The capacity of the Abyssinian for this sour beverage, which in aspect resembles soap and water, is truly amazing. In every house gallons are each evening consumed, and serious rioting, if not bloodshed, is too often the result of the festivity.

Rising with the liquor quaffed, the fiercer pa.s.sions gradually gain the entire ascendency, and guests seldom return to their homes without witnessing the broil and the scuffle, the flashing of swords and the dealing of deep cuts and wounds among the drunken combatants. If but a small portion of the grease which is so plentifully besmeared over the Christian persons of the Amhara were employed in the fabrication of candles, the long idle evenings might be pa.s.sed in a more pleasant and profitable manner than in the swilling of beer like hogs, and the consequent brawling contentions which at present stigmatise their nocturnal meetings.

On ordinary occasions, however, when not engaged in a debauch, the Abyssinian retires to his bed as soon as the shades of night close in.

A bullock's hide is stretched upon the mud floor, on which, for mutual warmth, all the inferior members of the family lie huddled together _in puris naturalibus_. The clothing of the day forming the covering at night, is equitably distributed over the whole party; and should the master of the house require sustenance during the nocturnal hours, a collop of raw flesh and a horn of ale are presented by a male or female attendant, who starts without apparel from the group of sleepers, exclaiming _Abiet_! "My lord!" to the well-known summons from the famished _gaita_.

Coffee, although flourishing wild in many parts of the kingdom, is at all times strictly forbidden on pain of exclusion from the church; and the priesthood have extended the same penal interdiction to smoking, "because the Apostle saith, that which cometh out of the mouth of a man defileth him." One half the year, too, which is reserved for utter idleness, is marked by an exclusion of all meat diet, under the penalty of excommunication. Eggs and b.u.t.ter are then especially forbidden, as also milk, which is styled "the cow's son." Nothing whatever is tasted between sunrise and sunset; and even at the appointed time a scanty mess of boiled wheat, dried peas, or the leaves of the kail-cabbage, with a little vegetable oil, is alone permitted to those who are unable to obtain fish, of which none are found in any of the upland rivers.

Besides Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the twelve months, which are observed as holydays, the fast of the Apostles continues eighteen days, that of the holy Virgin sixteen, Christmas seven, Nineveh four, and Lent fifty-six. During all these, labouring men are strictly prohibited from every employment, and, as they desire their souls to be saved, are compelled to live like anchorites, to the serious diminution of their bodily strength. This is encouraged and promoted by the king; yet there is no system more baneful than that of devoting so many precious days to idleness and vice, and none forming a more fatal obstacle to the amelioration of the people. Where such a waste of time as this is sanctioned by religion, how deeply laid must be the foundation of mental ignorance! Six months out of the twelve devoted to listless idleness is indeed an immense source of evil, and G.o.d, who has placed men here for useful and worthy exertion, is not likely to reward them for their sloth. But throughout Abyssinia the evil is in full force. In arts, in industry, and in social as well as in moral existence, her sons are shrouded under a dense cloud of ignorance. Want of education denies them the relaxation of intellectual employment--little amus.e.m.e.nt varies the dull routine of a life awed by the church, by the king, and by the n.o.bles; and an unprofitable existence having been pa.s.sed in this world, the spirit pa.s.ses away without any very distinct idea being entertained of what is to happen in the next.

Note 1. _Gebeta_ is a game something allied to backgammon, but played with sixty-four b.a.l.l.s, stored in twenty cavities on the board.

_Shuntridge_ is, with few deviations, the Arab game of chess.

Volume 3, Chapter XX.

LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE.

Geez, the ancient Ethiopic, was the vernacular language of the shepherds. Until the fourteenth century of the Christian era it remained that of the Abyssinian empire, and in it are embodied all the annals of her religion. After the downfall of the Zeguean dynasty, and the restoration of the banished descendants of Solomon, Amharic became the court language, to the complete exclusion of the Geez. It prevails in Shoa, as well as in all the provinces included between the Taccaze and the blue Nile, and is thus spoken by the greater portion of the population of Abyssinia.

The province from which the language has derived its appellation is at the present day in occupation of the Yedjow, and other Mohammadan Galla tribes, who speak a distinct dialect; but the fact of "Amhara" being a term held synonymous with "Christian," would prove that it must formerly have exerted pre-eminent influence in the empire.

Of Semitic origin, and acknowledging the Ethiopic as its parent, the Amharic displays much interchange with the surrounding African languages--those, especially, which are spoken by the Danakil, the Somauli, the Galla, the people of Argobba, and those of Hurrur and of Gurague. The cognate dialect peculiar to Tigre has received much less adulteration from other tongues, and consequently preserves a closer similitude to the Ethiopic; and this circ.u.mstance may be traced to the greater intercourse maintained with a variety of foreign nations by the versatile and unstable population in the south.

Amharic excepted, none of the many languages extant in Abyssinia have a.s.sumed a written form. The Ethiopic characters, twenty-six in number, are the Coptic adaptation of the Greek alphabet, modelled upon the plan of the Arabic, deranged from their former order, and rendered rude and uncouth by the fingers of barbarous scribes. Each individual consonant, being subjected to variations of figure correspondent with the number of the vowels, produces a prolific kaleidoscope mixture, which might have been deemed sufficient. But the ingenious phonologist who applied these to the Amharic tongue, has superadded seven foreign letters, each undergoing seven transformations by the annexure of as many vowel points; and these, with the addition of a suitable modic.u.m of diphthongs, complete a total of two hundred and fifty-one characters, of the separate denomination of any of which, notwithstanding that most have possessed names from all antiquity, it may not perhaps be considered extraordinary that the most erudite in the land should profess entire ignorance.

When the Egyptian monarch interdicted the employment of the papyrus, parchment was invented. The Jews very early availed themselves of the _charta pergamena_, whereupon to write their Scriptures. The roll is still used in their synagogues; and being introduced into Abyssinia on the Hebrew emigration, it continues the only material used by the scribe. His ink is a mucilage of gum-arabic mixed with lamp-black. It acquires the consistency of that used in printing, and retains its intense colour for ages. The pen is the reed used in the East, but without any nib, and the inkstand is the sharp end of a cow's horn, which is stuck into the ground as the writer squats to his task.

But it must be confessed that the Abyssinian scribe does not hold the pen of a ready writer; and the dilatory management of his awkward implement is attended with gestures and att.i.tudes the most ludicrous.

Under many convulsive twitches of the elbow, the tiny style is carried first to the mouth, and the end having been seized between the teeth, is masticated in a sort of mental frenzy. Throughout the duration of this necessary preliminary, the narrow strip of dirty vellum is held at arm's length, and viewed askance on every side with looks of utter horror and dismay; and when at last the stick descends to dig its furrow upon the surface, no terrified school-boy, with the birch of the pedagogue hanging over his devoted head, ever took such pains in painting the most elaborate pothook, as does the Abyssinian professor of the art of writing, in daubing his strange hieroglyphics upon the scroll.

As with the Chinaman, each individual character must, on completion, be scrutinised from every possible point of view, before proceeding to the next. Every word must be read aloud by the delighted artist, spelt and re-spelt, and read again; and the greasy skin must be many times inverted, in order that the happy effect may be thoroughly studied.

During each interval of approval, the destructive convulsions of the jaw are continued, to the complete demolition of the pencil, and, long before the termination of the opening sentence, European patience has become exhausted at the scene of awkward stupidity, and the gross waste of valuable time which it involves.

Seventeen years have been employed in transcribing a single ma.n.u.script, and an ordinary page is the utmost that can be produced by one entire day's steady application. A book is composed of separate leaves enclosed between wooden boards, usually furnished with the fragment of a broken looking-gla.s.s for the toilet of the proprietor, and carefully enveloped in a leathern case. The contents being of a sacred nature, and generally in an unknown tongue, they are looked upon with the eye of superst.i.tious credulity, and more especially venerated if embellished with coloured daubs and an illuminated t.i.tle-page.

The pictorial art is still far behind the middle ages of Europe; and the appearance of the limner arranging his design with a stick of charcoal, or tilling in the gaudy part.i.tions with the chewed point of a reed dabbled in the yolk of an egg, which is placed on end before him, proves sufficiently diverting. The conceits of some of the most celebrated masters also afford a fund of amus.e.m.e.nt. Christ stilling the tempest is a subject fraught with perplexity to those who have never seen either a maritime vessel or the "great water," and firearms are placed somewhat before their invention in the hands of the heroes of antiquity. Our common father in the enjoyment of Paradise is at the present day invariably depicted with an emblazoned buckler, a sprig of asparagus, and a silver sword; and his erring partner appears with a bushy beehive wig most elaborately b.u.t.tered, and with silver ear-rings resembling piles of cannon shot. But although doubts exist as to the complexion of the first parents of mankind, the fact is not a little complimentary to the heretic Franks, that the fairest skin is given to saints, angels, and the "dead kings of memory," whereas black or blue are the colours invariably employed in depicting his Satanic majesty.

One hundred and ten volumes [Vide Appendix] comprise the literature at this day extant in Abyssinia; but tradition records the t.i.tles of other works, which it has already been said were deposited for security in the islands of the lake Zooai, at the period of the Mohammadan inroads. Of the acc.u.mulated lore of ages, four ma.n.u.scripts only are written in the language at present spoken and understood; and, with exception of the Holy Scriptures, the whole is little more than a tissue of absurd church controversy and lying monkish legend.

Four monstrous folios, styled Senkesar, which are to be found in every church, briefly record the miracles and lives of the numerous saints and eminent persons who receive adoration in Abyssinia; and on the day ordered by the calendar for the service of each, his biography is read for the edification of all those of the congregation who comprehend the Ethiopic tongue. A host of pious worthies thus preside over every day of the entire year; and fables of the most preposterous kind, detailed with scrupulous minuteness, are vouched for upon unexceptionable authority.